Formula One has abandoned plans to reintroduce refuelling beginning in 2017 after teams decided that it would not be a worthwhile move, Force India deputy principal Bob Fernley has confirmed.
“The view collectively was that it’s not going to improve the show and the decision was not to go forward with that,” Fernley said at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
The proposal to bring back refuelling was raised at a meeting of the sport’s Strategy Group in May as part of measures to make cars faster and F1 more exciting for both drivers and fans.
The initial enthusiasm waned when some questioned why something that was banned in 2010 for reasons of cost and safety should be revived at a time when teams were trying to save money.
Concerns about refuelling narrowing the strategy options were also raised.
A Strategy Group meeting on Wednesday formally shelved the idea, and there were no mentions of refuelling – which would require heavy rigs and extra pit crew inorder to operate them – in a statement issued on Thursday.
Instead, the group mentioned a proposal to increase the race fuel allowance.
Fernley said the refuelling proposal had stemmed from a desire to increase engine horsepower, which would require more fuel and either bigger tanks or the chance to put more in during the race.
The Force India principal said the latest Strategy Group meeting had been constructive, particularly in overhauling power unit penalties and increasing restrictions on driver aids.
“There were some very important decisions made quickly and efficiently to deal with issues in F1 from Austria in terms of penalties. I thought we did a good job with all of that,” he said.
“There are three or four initiatives, if you like, that now need to go through the process.
“Initially, those have to go through the engine manufacturers, the FIA, the commercial rights holder or a combination of them to see if they have got merit and can go to the next stage, which is for the teams to evaluate.”
They include possible changes to the qualifying and race weekend formats for 2016, with one idea reportedly to be having a shorter race on Saturdays, possibly with reserve drivers, who could earn positions on the grid for the main race.
Fernley said many of the suggestions were “purely a conceptual idea” at present.
Meanwhile, in Friday’s practice for Sunday’s 52-lap race at Silverstone, Nico Rosberg continued his strong mid-season form by setting the fastest time in both sessions.
The German, who has won three of the past four grands prix to close to within 10 points of his Mercedes-GP teammate Lewis Hamilton at the top of the championship standings, completed the Northamptonshire circuit in a time of one minute, 34.155 seconds to finish three-10ths of a second quicker than the Ferrari driven by Kimi Raikkonen during the faster afternoon session.
Rosberg, who won at Silverstone in 2013 and took pole position for last year’s race, had recovered well from mechanical problems in opening practice in the morning, which had seen his car stop out on the track with a hydraulics failure.
Hamilton, bidding to win his home race for a third time, had a troubled day as he had a spin in first practice, then complained of poor handling as he could go only go fourth-quickest in the afternoon session, with the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel also ahead of him.
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